NFL games on Christmas Day remain the gifts that keep on giving for the league, and that will continue in 2024 with two matchups despite the holiday falling on a Wednesday, it was announced.
Matchups for the games, which will include teams that play on the previous Saturday to account for the recovery window, have yet to be determined.
The NFL played three games on Christmas Day 2023, with the Baltimore Ravens-San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders-Kansas City Chiefs matchups all being played on a Monday.
The Christmas Day games have generated massive television ratings, with ESPN’s Ravens-49ers telecast having more than 27.2 million viewers, making it the second most-watched “Monday Night Football” game since 1996.
NFL owners agreed Tuesday to move the trade deadline back one week to the Tuesday after Week 9 and authorized a significant expansion to the league’s replay assist program.
Three penalty categories — intentional grounding, roughing the passer and hits out of bounds — were added to the list of plays replay assist can advise officials on.
In addition, they also agreed to allow teams to use a practice squad player as their emergency No. 3 quarterback on game days, after requiring that player to be an existing member of the 53-man roster last season. The flurry of moves came on a day when they also approved a massive revamp of the kickoff.
The NFL will now allow replay officials to move into the area of penalty enforcement for the first time. They will not be allowed to initiate a formal review on intentional grounding, roughing the passer or hits out of bounds. Nor can they suggest a flag be thrown. But they will be authorized to suggest a real-time reversal of a penalty on “specific, objective aspects of a play when clear and obvious video evidence is present,” according to the rule. Previously, replay officials advised officials on calls such as catch/no-catch, possession and down by contact, advice that on-field referees can accept or reject.
In addition to the replay assist expansion, the trade deadline shift and the No. 3 quarterback tweak, NFL owners on Tuesday also approved a second consecutive preseason trial of providing the replay “Hawk-Eye” feed to be seen in coaches’ booths rather than just the broadcast video of a game. The program will expand into the regular season in 2025.